For fans of the franchise, Shin Megami Tensei IV can't come to the West soon enough. The Atlus title will arrive in North America on 16th July with some collectible goodies, while a European release is confirmed but, as yet, doesn't have a solid date.
It landed in Japan last week,...

Altered Beast occupies a strange place in Sega's library; when it was first released it garnered a lukewarm response, and its choice as a pack-in title for the freshly-launched Mega Drive / Genesis was a curious one — although its large, bold sprites were impressive for the time, it certainly wasn't strong enough in terms of...

Namco Bandai has announced it is developing a 3DS title based on the upcoming manga series Devils and Realist, which is due to air in Japan this Summer.
The anime centres around a young fellow called William Twining who is in fact the reincarnation of King Solomon and has accidentally summoned...

Almost two weeks ago, we brought you the news that Japanese Wii U owners will be treated to Yakuza 1 & 2 HD, which is the Wii U version of the same package that launched on the PS3 in November last year. The title was shown during a "SEGA Direct" section of the Nintendo Direct broadcast, after a...

Nintendo of Japan has confirmed that it will be airing a special Nintendo Direct broadcast for Monster Hunter 4 and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies on May 31st at 8PM in Japan.
Both titles are key 3DS exclusives for 2013, and both will be hitting the west at some point. It has already been confirmed that Phoenix Wright:...

Although many will argue that Japan's status in the games development world has lessened over the past few hardware generations, there once was a time when all the world's best software seemed to flow from that modestly-proportioned selection of islands. Back in the days of the 8 and 16-bit...

While in many respects the West is better off than Japan on the eShop platforms — due to publishing rules in Nintendo's homeland — there are some releases exclusive to the region. One of these is the @Simple DL Series from D3 Publisher, which is a sequence of budget 3DS games that have followed on from an...

Japanese star Mari Yaguchi used to be in the band Morning Musume, and is no stranger to the world of video games — she starred (virtually) in Sega's Yakuza 4. She's also a regular columnist in the popular Japanese video games magazine Famitsu.
Her most recent column was based around the...

We hate to keep going on about it, but Microsoft revealed the Xbox One to the world this week. We're obviously biased, but we happen to think it looks a little underwhelming in purely physical terms — Nintendo Life Operations Director Darren Calvert said it best when he described the console as...

Nintendo has confirmed that the popular side-scrolling fighter Double Dragon II: The Revenge will be coming to the Japanese 3DS eShop on 29th May, priced at 500 Yen.
Once again, the heroes of the hour are Billy & Jimmy Lee, who must avenge the brutal murder of Marian at the hands of...

This week's Japanese chart results are in, and show that the slow software release schedule in the past couple of weeks is causing a hit on hardware sales across the board. Only the PSP enjoyed a small boost, which can be attributed to the fact that this week's number one is for Sony's ageing...

Level-5's Fantasy Life, which was developed along with Nintendo subsidiary 1-Up Studios — formerly Brownie Brown — has performed well in Japan, so much so that the publisher has announced a new upgraded version of the title, called Fantasy Life Link!.
As an RPG that allows you to choose a career, set off on...

While, admittedly, Japanese gamers currently suffer from comparatively empty eShop platforms — particularly on Wii U — due to tough publishing rules, as always there are some extras in the region that make us jealous. Notably, there's been a SEGA range of 3D Classics, including Sonic the Hedgehog and Space Harrier. Now...

While the manic clacking of plastic guitars has largely fallen quiet across the world, Japan still has a place in its rhythm gaming heart for a different instrument: the humble-yet-iconic taiko drum.
According to Siliconera, Namco Bandai has announced more than 500,000 combined units shipped for two titles in...

While we were enjoying largely similar Nintendo Direct broadcasts in Europe and North America, Japan had its own stream to enjoy that had an even greater emphasis on Nintendo's collaboration with SEGA; a segment was even called "SEGA Direct". There was a section dedicated to Yakuza 1 & 2 HD, a new Wii U version of...

Nintendo has announced yet another new 3DS colour for gamers in Japan: Metallic Red. Announced yesterday — though the Eevee 3DS XL stole a majority of the limelight — the new system is a more vibrant shade of red than the previous Flame Red 3DS. It'll launch on the 13th June for 15,000 yen, along with a...

When you start a new game of Animal Crossing, the figure who seems to loom largest in those early hours is Tom Nook, a tanuki who always seems to have dollar (or should that be bells?) signs in this eyeballs. Nook has a reputation of being a rather greedy capitalist, profiting on naive newcomers...

Last month we reported that posters hinted that Eevee would be featured in some way on a new 3DS XL design, but details were scarce on its appearance.
And now we know it's official - an Eevee-themed 3DS XL is indeed making its way to Japan judging by a leaflet found in Pokémon Center stores, posted by Twitter user...

The mobile gaming market is certainly on the rise as more and more people start to adopt devices such as tablets and smartphones. No longer do you need to have a dedicated gaming console to enjoy games as you can now find them within various app stores.
Naturally, the quality may not...

Last year, Nintendo and Marvelous AQL joined forces to develop an arcade game for Japan, Pokémon Tretta. Players collect different Tretta - small discs that you scan into a machine - call out whichever Pokémon it features and send them off to battle; if you win, you get more Tretta.
It has come to light that the...